Colombo crime family captain Dino Calabro decided to turn on his mafia pals and become a government informant after he was arrested in 2008.
The 59-year-old mobster helped the feds take down various members of the New York mafia testifying at the trials of former Colombo family leaders Thomas Gioeli and Joel Cacace. Calabro made his way through the ranks of the mafia becoming a violent captain in the Colombo family. He was facing a sentence of life in prison but a Federal District Court judge made note of his assistance as a witness that helped to take down numerous wiseguys before handing down the more lenient 11-year sentence.
“Dino Calabro (during his 2008 arrest)”
By his own account, he was responsible for the deaths of at least eight people including New York City police officer Ralph C. Dols. According to prosecutors, Dols was killed on orders from Cacace because the cop was planning to marry his ex-wife and he saw this as an embarrassment. Calabro testified that he was part of a mob crew that stalked Dols and executed him outside his home in Sheepshead Bay. He also admitted to killing a Colombo associate in 1991 and two more members the next year after a bloody civil war erupted within the organized crime family.
Calabro has been in the witness protection program for the last five years as he continued to help authorities in their fight against Cosa Nostra. Prosecutor James Gatta told the court that Mr. Calabro had helped the government essentially incapacitate the Colombo family. But some family members of his victims saw this as just another instance of the feds making a deal with the devil. Afte he was sentenced Deno apologized to the relatives of his victims and his own family renouncing his past. He said that he had been “intoxicated by the greed, power and notoriety” that went with the gangster life and now was “mortified by the criminal culture” in which he had chosen to invest his “life and identity.”
Always thought this was a new low for the feds making a deal with a confessed cop killer. Not like they wouldn’t have taken down Cacace/Gioeli and the rest of that crew anyway I mean not like were talking about mafia geniuses here. And now he gets to cash in getting off way way too easy.
By making a deal with a cop killer they show they really don’t care about their own. Fed’s are true scumbags. The only thing they care about is getting a high profile bust so they look good and getting a nice promotion for themselves. I’d rather deal with a gangster any day…
I thought they had a rule about killing honest cops. I guess dating the ex wife was considered an exception to that rule. The Columbos were just begging for it with that move. They strike me as the most dysfunctional Family big time. I know the Bonannos have had their moments as well but still look good compared to Columbos. Persicos seriously need to step aside and let that crew move on before they truly get disbanded or something!!
The mob’s rule against killing cops has nothing to do with a love for cops but everything to do with not hurting their image, preserving their corrupt relationships with politicians and law enforcement, and not bringing down a ton of heat. But with LCN not having much political clout anymore anyway that reason pretty much goes away. It’s not so much the crime family but the people who fill the slots. Get psychopathic people in the administration then these are things you can expect.
Oh im in total agreement with you there. I was never under the impression that the cop killing rule was in place out of respect for . I know there has been plenty of cases where crooked cops got killed and that appeared to just be the price of doing business. Having the guy whacked on account of him dating the ex seems like a foolish move. A petty reason to risk bringing all that heat down on them. Course at the end of the day it was Calabro who got the sweet deal. Another stone killing machine swooped up by the FBI in a lot of cases to put away guys who were far less violent?? I understand the theory of chopping the head off the snake but it doesn’t always play out that way. Time again they decide to make the deal with some heavy hitter just so they can take down some half assed Boss. The public is fed up with Sociopaths getting to remain free when they were really the ones doing most of the killing. I’m curious if there had been more of an active Commission at that time would a hit like that gone unpunished? Just curious???
How do people live with their self after flipping??
These are guys with no sense of code or honor to begin with. I’m sure they sleep well at night.
Exactly. He should watch his back.